It seems apparent that the traditional two-step organization of eight elementary and four high school grades is the weakest. The most promising organizational plan is the three-step 4-4-4 or 5-3-4 plan, which promises greater attention to individualized instruction. (AN)

Balancing theory, administration, and practice, Newport News (Virginia) public schools achieved a smooth transition to middle school organization. (Author)

A study of 1127 classes of 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children in English schools was conducted to obtain information about the organization of schools, the range of work done by children, their performance on certain tests, and the degree to which children's work is matched to their abilities. (Author/MLF)

The citizens of Norfolk, Virginia, challenged educators to preserve a large, comprehensive high school while implementing a small-school concept. Staff responded by establishing four academies within the larger school that conveyed the feeling of smallness. Administration is decentralized, and special classes and computer labs are held outside the…

The responses of Professors Heckman and Elmore to this author's critique of the ASCD's "Public Schools of Choice" monograph reinforce her original reservations. The ASCD report overlooks the urgency of the present context and the inadequacy of alternatives to choice, makes unfeasible research demands, denies its own bias, and makes questionable…

Middle schools in St. Louis (Missouri) were implemented in 1980. Evaluation measures indicate better student attendance and higher scores on achievement tests, fewer discipline referrals, and fewer student suspensions. (MLF)

A flexible approach to curriculum development begins with staff development, uses curriculum mapping, and results in a loose-leaf notebook useful to teachers. (Author)

When faced with budget cuts, a region of the District of Columbia public schools undertook a massive training program to make up for reduced supervisory services. (Author)

Unlike the effective teaching research, which attempted to identify generic teaching skills, current research focuses on relationships between teaching and learning in specific subjects. Attempts to change school structure have rarely led to reliable changes in either teaching practice or student learning. When geared to students' conceptual…

Students can activate their minds in a school envisioned as firm (a disciplined production system featuring high production workers); family (a caring, supportive social network of concerned adults and respectful students); fair (a community celebrating participants' best work); and forum (a public meeting place of open dialogue and inquiry).…

Competency-based education asks educators and the public to give up decades of habits and assumptions regarding the structures and methods of schooling. (Author/IRT)

Repudiates Herbert Walberg's recent review article touting homework's beneficial effects on achievement scores. Presents evidence showing that good learning environments, interactive situations, and less restricted access to community and school resources (including new technologies) were of greater significance. Faults schools' organizational…

Describes the "schools-within-a-school" elementary program at Broken Ground School in Concord, New Hampshire, where parents and teachers are involved in choosing the learning environment best suited for each child, either the more formal "Conventional School" or the more individualized "Continuous Progress School."…

Most reform movements do not fundamentally alter the prevailing organization, scheduling, curriculum, or structure of teaching. The time has come to view teachers as the solution to, rather than the source of, school problems. Empowerment reform raises questions and allows school practitioners to work toward their own answers. Includes 22…